The stories of the Mercedes star and the laurel wreath began – quite separately from one another – 17 years before the merger: on 6 August 1909, Benz & Cie. submitted an application to have the "Benz" lettering surrounded by a laurel wreath registered as a trademark to the Imperial Patent Office.
This symbol was entered on the Register of Trademarks on 10 October 1910. Daimler‑Motoren‑Gesellschaft had already applied for legal protection for the Mercedes-Benz star on 24 June 1909. It was entered on the Register of Trademarks on 9 February 1911.
Looking back, the fact that both car makers registered their new trademarks in the summer of 1909 seems to mirror the events of 1886, since this was when Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz invented the car powered by the fast-running internal combustion engine – without even having any knowledge of one another.
Some 23 years later, the two still competing companies pointed the way ahead with their new brand symbols, by immediately using them as a badge and signet on their respective vehicles.
Finally, on 18 February 1925, both brands registered their new shared logo – Daimler's Mercedes star in Benz's laurel wreath. This was a highly symbolic action in anticipation of the merger, which became effective on 28 June 1926. It was from these beginnings that the Mercedes-Benz trademark still used to this day developed.
